At Last, an Ancient in Atlantis
by palma
Summary: The Ori threat has become urgent, and SG1 searches for a way to counter them. This however will take them on a whole new adventure...to Atlantis. How did they get there and why? Crossover between SGA and SG1.
1. Chapter 1

A Stargate Fan Fiction

This story has been kindly translated by Jamie Melly (jamiemelly88). I thank him for his work. Good reading.

**At Last, an Ancient in Atlantis**

**Chapter 1:**** QUIATUS**

One afternoon, the entire staff of the SGC stood in silence waiting for a sign until the moment that a deafening sound, like someone pulling the plug out of a sink, washed over the room. This was the sound everyone was waiting for; a sound all the soldiers knew. It came from a giant ring linked to countless others in several galaxies: the Stargate.

When activated, the viscous blue liquid the gate produced gave it the air of being a mirror made of water.

As was customary, the on-duty airmen were on guard awaiting their companions' return. It was likely that people might get hurt or not come back at all. They all knew that any time they left on a mission, they would have to come round to the idea that they might not return. This time, however, the whole team returned without incident apparently General Jack O'Neill seemed satisfied with the outcome of SG3's latest mission. In the last report made planet-side, the explorers found unidentified items, in other words, all the items one tends to find on another planet. He was eager to try out these "new toys". Just two hours before, he had had to submit a report about some damned piles of stones that made no sense at all to him and whose purpose he cared not to speculate on.

Daniel came into the General's office in such a flurry, his foot got jammed in the door in the process.

"Owww!" he cried, hopping up and down on the spot.

"Hi Daniel, good to see you, I'm well thank you, how 'bout you?" O'Neill said smiling, "but could you not just take the time to knock before you demolish my door?" while continuing to read a report just next to an enormous stack of files, which in itself showed how long it was taking him to get through them.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine too," he said while rubbing his foot.

"Good," said O'Neill, an insistent look on the General's face.

"I'm sorry, General, how are you? I'm glad to see you too. What?" Seeing the motions of the General's head, "uh", Daniel pointed to the door while O'Neill likewise signaled to Daniel to turn back the way he came.

Daniel, playing the game, knocked on the door:

"Yes, who is it?" Said Jack, amusement flooding his voice

"Daniel", he said, sighing and growing increasingly frustrated with Jack's way of doing things.

"Ah, quelle surprise, it's been too long."

"Not at all, General, it's only been a few seconds," Daniel said, frustrated with his attitude.

"Really?" continuing to laugh to himself, despite the angry look on his friend's face, "ah, you're referring to the incident where you half-trashed my door."

"They're here", Daniel blurted out the words, so his nerves would not show.

"Yes, and..." looking to calm the archaeologist down.

"Well, uh, I wanted to..." he said, stressing every word.

"Ah hah! You wanted to see the new toys as well, didn't you?" the General cut him off.

"No, I just want to see if there's any news, he said hesitant, "but not in the same way you hear it."

"Yeah, that's what people always say. Well, go on, go look for Colonel Mitchell and his teammates."

But Daniel, visibly concerned, certainly wasn't going before he had asked his question.

"Can you please just remind me why he's here? He seems to me like he's not 100% comfortable, like he's not in his zone."

"This is because he broke your damn stone plaque."

"It contained the gate addresses of planets where the Ancients could have visited or sought refuge. It was priceless," Daniel finished, before finally sighing.

"You'll find other unreadable things to keep you entertained. And stop thinking about the Ancients, will you? If they don't want us to find them, then let's leave them alone and it'll be their loss." Not wanting to have the same argument again, O'Neill headed off in the direction of the conference room.

O'Neill made the most of every chance he got to tease Daniel. It was true that he missed going on missions, the bad guys and the times when Daniel would translate some text. He missed it more than he had ever thought he would. He had never really understood all that writing, even though he had made the effort to try. Same with all those science words Carter would use, although they did sound good when they came out of her mouth. _'Those lips of hers,"_ he besides that, he really enjoyed terrorising his new SG1 because it beat the severe lack of action in his office, action largely consisting of but not limited to: paperwork, phone calls and more paperwork.

Two months previously, he had been at the bedside of one of his men, Mitchell, who had been injured during the attack on Antarctica. In O'Neill's view, it was thanks to him that they had been able to push back Anubis' fleet, a bad guy who was more than just your everyday bad guy. That soldier had thrown himself into the battle not knowing all of the issues at work. He definitely had no idea about _"our E.T. buddies"_, as General O'Neill would say. In the face of an adversary far in advance of them technologically, Mitchell had shown exemplary bravery. He made a good recovery from his accident and it was for that reason that O'Neill, smiling to himself more than a little imagining the look on that soldier's face when he informed him of the truth, brought him into the SGC. The General was sitting near his bed. Mitchell had awoken from his coma three weeks previously. O'Neill had explained what had happened to him. That was the reason and he would Mitchell's wish. And he had not been disappointed by Mitchell's grimacing after hearing O'Neill's revelations.

After he left, Mitchell had a headache and thought he had been the victim of one of the General's bad jokes. A _very _bad joke. How could there be other human beings living in another galaxy? But for two months afterwards, he reflected on what he had been told and waited for the day when the General would come to take him into the SGC, a wish which was granted. He spent a long time waiting and hoping that he wouldn't regret that choice after having completed several missions. Once he got to the base, he had soon discovered everything O'Neill had described to him to be true, much to the General's amusement.

"Yeah, it had the same effect on me the first time," smiling at Mitchell's stunned face, "you get used to it, you'll see."

He had had his breath taken away and was imagining all the adventures to come. Today, Mitchell was fairly well integrated into his team, despite his awkwardness on missions. At that moment, they were all sitting in the briefing and meeting rooms waiting patiently for the General and Doctor Kovach, who had just returned from the expedition. He had found numerous items which could have belonged to the Ancients, builders of the famed lost city of Atlantis. In the course of a few months, they had made great progress in the history of the Ancients and had even succeeded in finding the lost city, a billion light years away in another galaxy called Pegasus. Aided by soldiers, the doctor made his way into the room with nearly all the objects he had managed to bring back with him.

Dr Kovach made his report so boring that O'Neill just asked him to skip to the important part, as he usually did. He then went about describing each object when the General took interest in a small green oval which lit up on his contact, after which he immediately dropped it. Indeed, he was the only former member of SG1 who possessed the Ancient Gene allowing the user access to and ability to use a certain object. He put it aside straight away given his prior less than savoury experiences with Ancient objects that had unwittingly nearly caused disasters such as travelling back through time and landing in Ancient Egypt and causing the Earth's destruction. Or there was the time he had sat frozen for a month in what was to all intents and purposes a coffin. Therefore, he knew better than to play around with these things.

Daniel for his part was more interested in the tablets the team had brought back through the gate, him being the only one able to read signs the rest of the team could not understand. He was absorbed in his reading while at the same time listening attentively to Dr Kovach, who was recounting a tale told by the people of the planet about "higher men" who came to deliver them from the Goa'uld and offered them all their knowledge, which explained their technological development, which was exceptional given their precarious life caused by climatic conditions. He had also discovered a plaque on which were written prophecies, chronologies and dates in the past but also those in the future. Daniel took his eyes of the tablets, his interest suddenly piqued.

"How can that be?" Daniel asked, putting his tablets down carefully, promising to himself that he would discover their secret.

"According to the villagers, the prophecies have all come true and allowed hundreds of lives to be saved. They followed the instructions to the letter."

"But we've already seen this once before on another planet."

"Yes, but these stones are more recent according to the carbon dating, only a hundred years or so old. What we have here are the most recent events," Dr Kovach retorted.

"So some of the inhabitants could attest to that and tell us where they took place?" Daniel said with an air of hope.

"If you had listened to my briefing, you would have heard me say that the oldest amongst them barely reach fifty. Their short life span is due to the extreme temperatures. Nobody remembers having seen these events, all that remain are stories told to children passed down from generation to generation and they say that the stones have always been there."

"However, I took some photographs so you could study them," he said, holding the photos up for Daniel to see, "also they don't attach any value to Ancient objects. They're quite used to them being around and therefore have no issues being parted from them. The stone is a different matter; it means a lot to them, they venerate it..."

"Thanks very much. Uh, well I'm gonna get started on this right away" Daniel cut him off, more concerned about his stone tablets, "I'm going to leave, Teal'c, can you come and help me?" Daniel was trying to find an excuse to avoid the conclusion of this mind-numbing briefing.

O'Neill cast pleading looks at the others to avoid being left alone with the doctor, when Carter started to get up to study the electronic devices the team had brought back through the gate.

"Uh, well ... I think I forgot," O'Neill began when an alarm suddenly sounded, "that we're gonna have trouble."

Despite his concern, he was glad to have an excuse to get away and thought he made a suitably amusing repartee. The sounding of the alarm was however a serious cause for concern given that it signalled danger or the return of one of the off-world teams, even though there was no team scheduled to return at that time. He therefore made his way hastily to the Control Room. It turned out to be SG5 making a premature return. They had been scheduled to conduct business with a people to exchange weapons, but apparently all had not gone according to plan. Since people now found themselves without their gods, others were moving in to profit from the fact. Before SGC humans had arrived, others had been charging much higher prices for weapons. According to Teal'c, their goal was to impose themselves on the population and grab power through the people's dependence on them.

Meanwhile, Daniel was explaining to Teal'c that the tablets ought to be placed in a precise order to form a sort of code or map. In the left hand corner of each tablet was a different sign every time and certain sentences were missing beginnings or endings. In total there were thirteen of them, which was not logical given that they were supposed to form a square, which meant that three were still missing:

"Doctor Kovach must have forgotten them and didn't search hard enough," Daniel remarked.

"Indeed. The planet's inhabitants may have hidden them or placed them in safekeeping, given that they were too primitive to understand the text," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, there's no doubt of that. I wonder how they're placed?" Daniel pondered, "we can try to translate them and then classify them based on the words or translations," he said, regarding the inscriptions intensely.

Teal'c was trying to comprehend some things and remarked:

"Daniel Jackson, look at these symbols. Could they not be those used on the Stargate to dial an address, this could be..."

"A gate address, of course. It's proof."

"And what is this on the lower right-hand side, there is a small marking, observe," rubbing the corner with his thumb, Teal'c traced out a relief just barely visible.

"Yes, it's so small, it looks like a point. How did you see it?"

"When my finger passed over it, I felt a form there," Teal'c responded.

"But it really is very small. I should ask Sam to see if she can make enlarged images, so we can see what it represents ", Daniel said, handing the stones to Teal'c.

"I will go immediately."

When Teal'c arrived at Colonel Carter's office, he found the door ajar. He knocked and then entered. He saw that she was engrossed and using her abilities to study the circuits of an object triggered by O'Neill's having touched it before. She was waiting for her computer to give her the results of the analysis, something she always did to determine that an item was safe to examine before going ahead with any further investigation.

"Colonel Carter," he said, lightly bowing his head, as was customary among the Jaffa.

"Oh, Teal'c, it's you," her attention taken by the results of the analysis which had just finished.

"Doctor Jackson would like you to scan these tablets and enlarge the images for his research."

"Sure, set them down there, it'll take one or two hours," she said, distracted by a screen which described the different physical phenomena of a new planet. She would often find herself studying more than one phenomenon at once given that missions had doubled since Anubis' destruction.

Two hours later, Teal'c returned to Daniel's office with the tablets and photos in hand where he found Daniel in his reflections.

"It doesn't mean anything," Daniel said, lifting up his glasses in frustration, by which it was clear that he had not yet succeeded in solving the mystery.

"That is certain if they are not in the correct order," Teal'c retorted amusedly.

"There should at least be some sense in it based on the elements I've already translated. The sentences just don't go together; they talk about the sun and then about an object used to make bubbles."

"Perhaps these will help," Teal'c said, passing the photos in his hand to Daniel.

"Yes, thanks," he said, taking the pictures, "I did at least manage to come up with a translation for the title: QUIATUS, the Ancients."

"In that case, I shall take my leave of you," Teal'c said, backing his way out of the room.

Though amused, Teal'c knew that Daniel would end up figuring out the translation and the solution to the enigmas he faced, even if Daniel got excited when speaking about the Ancients. According to what he had already discovered, the value of this discovery was priceless. The plaques indicated where the Ancients went after they left Earth as well as the methods needed to construct certain machines and vessels as well as how to operate them. He thought of these new discoveries which would doubtless entail new problems and, of course, new adventures.

**End of chapter**

**This chapter has been translated from French to English by Jamie Melly (jamiemelly88). Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

Goord reading et good luck. :)

**Chapter 2: The Only Solution**

Three weeks later, Dr. Kovach had finally found the missing pieces that had been so carefully hidden and Daniel had still not succeeded in translating the tablets completely. It was quite rare for him to take so long to finish a translation; normally he would solve enigmas quite quickly but he would eventually wind up finding the solution. This time was different. The texts were much more complex added to which there was not much time to translate them as he would like, given that things with the Jaffa were starting to heat up because, like all free peoples, they were having problems getting themselves organised politically, their misunderstandings leading to conflicts at the very core of their society. They had still not managed to agree on the election of a leader for the newly and tenuously united people. Daniel and Teal'c had had to make several trips to the Jaffa High Council to calm matters, as General O'Neill and foreign affairs were not the best of friends. This was history in the making, he was looking forward to the time when the Jaffa would no longer bother his planet and leave them in peace. With the translation partly finished, Daniel asked O'Neill to take him off mission duty for the time being so that he could spend more time on the content of the fragments. O'Neill had asked Daniel to get results fast because he had no desire to waste his time looking for the Ancients. After a week, he called SG1 together and asked Daniel to make his report. Daniel was unhappy at not having completely finished transcribing everything, but he at least understood enough. He listed some gate addresses which he pointed out on a space chart, the planets they referred to marked by tiny dots. Daniel was interested in one planet in particular, located outside the Milky Way and a neighbouring galaxy, the Dragon, not far from Pegasus in galactic terms. Carter explained the importance of this as she had been the one to help him with placing the planets on star charts aided by a new software which allowed them to place planets based on their coordinates. She began to explain her theories:

"Altogether, Daniel was able to extract 19 gate addresses from his translations, according to the Dan der Walls theory..."

"Carter, cut to the chase," the General cut her off in midsentence, not understanding a thing about the scientific law and backed by Teal'c whose head motions gave away that he also had no idea what Carter was talking about.

"Put simply, some of these planets no longer exist and..." she continued.

"How can they have disappeared? How can a planet disappear?" Teal'c asked, clearly disturbed by this phenomenon. He, like Jack, had never understood the laws of physics and Jack was glad that for once it was not him asking the question.

"When the kinetic reaction of the planetary core reaches its optimal value ..." Carter began to explain.

"To cut a long story short, after several billion years, the planet simply loses its energy and activity which cause it to explode," Daniel summed up the explanation in brief.

"There, you see? Now that was clear and simple," O'Neill said sarcastically.

"I agree with him," Mitchell remarked, having been silent up until that point.

"Well, I wanted to say that, according to my calculations, these planets disappeared several billion years ago and as such we can eliminate nine of them. Also, we've already visited four others over the last five years and we know there was no trace of the Ancients left on any of them, which leaves us with ..." Sam continued.

"Six. Thank you, but even I know how to count," Jack responded.

"Yes, so," not happy at being interrupted, "we were wondering if we could try the addresses we have left to see if they still work and start to visit the planets they lead to."

"Yeah, why not, we can always try. You can start after the briefing. Send a MALP through to recon the ground and then after we discuss it at length, maybe I'll authorise a go to see what's out there."

"But it's essential that we go there as soon as we can so we can find any new discovery that might help us fight the Ori," Daniel said.

The Ori were their new enemy, an enemy with funny powers like controlling fire or spreading diseases. The team had unfortunately divulged their existence to the Ori, who themselves were passing off as gods. Obviously the whole magical powers thing was nothing new to the team, but this time those powers were real. When they learned that the humans of Earth were not willing to venerate them, the Ori had declared war on Earth, but it was strange how these beings had been unaware of their existence for such a long time. The truth of the matter was that the Ancients had been protecting the humans in the Milky Way against this new threat by hiding them from the Ori. Now that the cover was blown, they had found an enemy much worse than the Goa'uld. They were vastly superior technologically to all other known races and despite the great distance between their galaxy and the Milky Way, they were no doubt already on their way to Earth. They still had a few months before their arrival. Despite how fast their ships may be, it would be a month at the very least before they would need to deal with this new threat head-on. That was why it was urgent that they come up with a means to defend themselves. The SGC had only two warships in its arsenal, the Prometheus and the Daedalus, and a few smaller fighters. If that wasn't enough, the Prometheus was currently under repair; she had sustained severe damage to her shields and engines and Daedalus had left for Atlantis to help the city fend off the Wraith invasion. Because of this, they did not have enough weapons to fight the Ori with. The US had made the other member states of the committee aware of this fact, which had not been received with great enthusiasm as they believed that the Americans ought to share all their discoveries with the other members, as well as keep them updated on any advances. However, the Americans had convinced the others to adopt a laissez-faire attitude towards their actions by inviting the other nations to take part in an important international committee. Thor, representing the Asgard, had come to offer his advice, his people favouring the Americans as leaders of the Stargate program. The other countries had then agreed to bow to the will of the United States. This time however, they were not so content to sit back and wait; they wanted to be kept up to date of everything that was going on and to take part in the offworld missions to find new weapons to use against their common enemy. It was for that reason that the Pentagon had put pressure on General O'Neill to find a solution, and fast. But the fact was that he had bigger fish to fry. The Asgards were nowhere to be seen and the Jaffa problems were troubling him. Therefore, he was pretty much willing to accept any idea, even the most surprising ones. He had decided today to listen to what suggestions Daniel had to save Earth.

"Apart from that, do those tablets perhaps mention more interesting things say, oh I don't know, how to build big ships with big guns?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes they do, there are lots of things...," Daniel answered.

"Well then, why didn't you tell us about that before? That would've been a lot more juicy. And the President hasn't stopped harassing me for good news, but I haven't had any to give him," Jack replied.

"I didn't mention it because they speak about construction materials that don't exist on Earth. To be honest, we don't exactly know what they're talking about and I'll need more time to gather all the pieces together, which would make finding the Ancients much easier. I've compiled a report on everything and you can tell the President the truth that we're having trouble finding what we're looking for," Daniel said.

"Ah, well that's a shame. Okay, I'm gonna leave you, I got a report to read." Jack got up and headed for his office.

"We'll find what we're looking for, Jack, don't worry," Daniel shouted after him.

"We'll see."

Daniel and Sam got ready to get started studying the gate addresses and the rest of the translation. They made their way to the control room so they could input the new coordinates and check them. Unfortunately, only one of them still worked, so Sam called the General to ask his permission to send a MALP through to investigate.

"Why don't the other addresses work?" Jack asked.

"The gates must have been destroyed on those planets, General," Sam answered.

"We've eliminated the number of planets we need to visit, haven't we? That should make things simpler: one planet our only hope, go on, send the MALP," Jack said.

The loudspeaker confirmed the General's order.

The three of them watched as the MALP passed through the event horizon. Once it had completely rematerialised on the other side, Sam began to take her scans.

"If these readings are accurate, we'll be able to...suitable temperature and liveable atmosphere, General."

If the readings are accurate. Don't you have anything a little more concrete to tell me, like turning the camera on? Colonel Carter, evacuate the gate room just in case, I don't want anybody else here.

The same loudspeaker made the evac announcement, coupled with the blast doors closing behind the departing soldiers.

"Okay, General, activating camera."

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to the computer screen which would show the video feed. Everyone was eager to lay eyes on the planet inhabited by superior beings who might offer them a hope against the Ori.

"Okay, the camera is hooked up, we should be starting to see the images now," she said, pressing a button.

Everyone watched the image appear attentively, there was almost nothing to see apart from...

"It looks like an empty military complex but..." Daniel said.

"Uh, I think I know what that is," Jack went over to the window through which the gate was clearly visible.

"What is it?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, it's quite simple really. Carter, raise the camera a little," Jack responded.

Sam complied and lifted the camera a little bit higher so they could all see

"Peek-a-boo everyone."

"But that's Jack. Jack, we can see you," Daniel remarked, surprised, and then he saw the MALP.

"I think you'll find that's General O'Neill, and it's us you idiot, not another me," he said, amused, "I don't want to have fun with childish stuff. Can't you even recognise your own base?"

"But I don't understand how this could have happened. We've never encountered this phenomenon before, it's impossible. According to the readings, the probe passed through the wormhole," Sam added.

"Well, it's not me you should be asking that question, it should be our specialist on the Stargate," Jack made a bee line towards his office, where he always went when something troubled him.

From that point on, Sam began to search for the cause of the anomaly, studying the parameters on her computer screen and launching some simulations. After a few hours, she called Daniel and explained to him her theory. They then went to see O'Neill, along with Teal'c. The door was open, so they knocked and went in.

"We just wanted to say that we've found the reason for the problem. There is a stargate on the other side, as the power regulator would suggest. It picked up an increase when the wormhole opened, as usual, but there is an iris protecting the entrance on the other side," Sam explained.

"Wait a minute. If I understand this right, you're saying that their gate has an iris like ours, but unlike ours, the MALP wasn't crushed against it? Why did it just come back here as if it was meant to come to this gate?" Jack asked.

"Well that's the anomaly. They must be using some other type of iris than the one we use, one that's much more advanced. The readings clearly show that a connection was established between the two gates. We think they must have programmed the iris to only open for specific addresses and as we know that the Ancients were pretty peaceful people, we think they must have come up with this iris so as not to kill people who wanted to travel through. Daniel and I have studied the planet's distance from Earth and we think it would be possible to make the trip there in three days."

"Stop right there. How do you know there are any people on that planet? For all we know, there might just be advanced technology. And what do you mean by saying we could make the trip in three days when we don't have any ships capable of going that far that fast?"

"We know there are people there, because there must be someone controlling that iris because a program couldn't do that by itself, there needs to be a human mind in control. And if you recall, General, we do have another ship that could make that journey."

"What are you talking about?"

"That gift the Asgard gave you on your promotion," Daniel answered.

"Ah, I take it you're referring to the gift that didn't work? You never even managed to get that thing off the ground because it needs to be flown by someone with a very strong Ancient gene."

"That's true, and we know how everything works and actually we have gotten it to fly several times but we didn't tell you about it because the project has been put on the back burner since we lost our pilot," Daniel added.

"Ah well, that's a shame."

"No, no, the pilot's not dead, it's just a long story," Daniel corrected, a little embarrassed.

"We'd like to recruit pilots so we can continue our trials. I think we're really on to something here," Sam said.

"Okay, I'll pick you some pilots and find you that diamond in the rough but are you really sure that this is the right answer?"

Sam and Daniel nodded in confirmation. Teal'c had stayed silent during practically the whole meeting, given how reserved he was. After a week, not one of the pilots the General had picked had managed to lift the fighter off the ground and the other countries were constantly pressing for news.

A month had gone by and no revolutionary discoveries had come of it. Jack was starting to lose his patience but he was sure he was on the right track and that his team were doing their best. He obviously just weren't going about it the right way.

"Twelve soldiers and we can't even find one who knows how to fly that hunk of bolts? Are you sure you made that thing fly before?

Carter, exasperated by his lack of confidence in her showed him the old video footage from the first project. He took himself off to his office, but Daniel decided to come and annoy him by placing a file on top of a pile of other reports. Teal'c looked at him in surprise when he made the gesture. Daniel clearly really wanted to visit this planet.

"Yeeees, what do you want of me now? I already read your report about the technology you mentioned, very interesting stuff."

"It's not another one of my late reports, Jack. It's one of the soldiers that I wanted to recommend to you."

"Thanks, but I don't think you're qualified to make that decision."

"This is the file of the Ancient pilot who was able to make the vessel fly?" Teal'c asked Daniel.

At that point Jack looked up from his reports and awaited Daniel's confirmation.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"If you had given me the time to explain..."

"What's his name?" O'Neill asked Daniel while he finished reading his report before placing all his concentration on the file.

"Her name, Jack."

"I'm sorry?" he said, distracted by the conclusion.

"It's a she, not a he."

"What?!" Jack said, lifting his head up from his papers, surprised and not fully understanding what he was hearing.

"I believe that what Daniel Jackson is trying to say is that this pilot is a woman," Teal'c explained.

Jack took the file right away and opened it up to check that this wasn't some kind of joke, but it really was true. The pilot was a pretty girl and very young by the name of Angela. The file was empty, there was no sort of information about her.

"But there's nothing here."

"I know that. It was all I could find. She was a secret agent, so her identity is a secret but I know a little about her."

"Like her favourite drink, for example?"

"Amongst other things, yes, no, what I want to say is..." Daniel rambled, clearly caught off guard.

"O'Neill, what are you saying?" Teal'c asked.

"I'm surprised. The serious Daniel Jackson, of all people. What I'm saying Teal'c, is that Daniel here has succumbed to the charms of a woman, this woman right here. She's a knock-out, you dirty old dog you," O'Neill teased while having a good look at the photo.

Daniel started to get truly uneasy and Teal'c understood why. It was official policy that personal relationships were strictly forbidden on base. If it wasn't for that policy, Jack would have made a move on Sam a long time ago. "Please don't tell anyone," Daniel asked.

"How did you know?" Teal'c asked.

"Because Daniel's all nervous."

"Am not."

"Are too. And because just then he got all embarrassed when we were talking about her."

"Well, okay, maybe just a little."

"Since you started talking about her, you got all excited. I don't see the problem, you've been waiting for this moment a long time."

"There is no problem."

"Come now Daniel, you're among friends, there's no need to keep secrets."

"Alright, she was discharged."

"Why would a soldier be discharged?" Teal'c asked.

"Either for treason, disobedience or lack of discipline or maybe something else, Teal'c. So, which of the three did Angela commit, Daniel?" he said, looking at her name on the file.

"Angela. I do not believe this is a common name but it is pleasant," Teal'c thought.

"It was nothing like that, Angela was completely loyal," suddenly becoming upset, Jack could see something was wrong with Daniel, "but she was dangerous." Seeing the look of incomprehension on Jack's face, Daniel continued, "she was in the battle over Antarctica and she was protecting our cargo ship, she was the last fighter to be beaten back. She saved her three teammates with a forced emergency landing, very well executed according to General Hammond. He told me it was thanks to that fighter that we managed to penetrate the Ancient base alive and in one piece. Angela survived the crash and while she was in hospital, the doctors discovered that the physiology of her cells had changed. Her cells were abnormally charged. Basically she had electricity running through her and that made her recuperation very difficult because they weren't able to scan her with radiography or by an MRI for fear it might kill her. Quite simply, it's like what happens when you open the car door or touch a screen, except that with her it was much more powerful, it was a real electric charge and she had trouble controlling it."

"Are you saying she had 'powers'?"

"No, they're not powers, they were just accidental shocks that her body emits, it was beyond her control. at the start. Then she regained control over her body and the doctors were able to run full tests on her. They discovered she had a brain tumour. That was why she was so dangerous. She requested permission to return to duty but the United States decided otherwise. When they discovered her illness, she was forbidden from flying an aircraft, so she was welcomed by our unit working on the ship. At the start, she was only there for security. We soon found out that the moment she entered the base or was in contact with the ship, it activated instantly of its own accord. Sam later discovered that she had the Ancient gene and it was stronger in her than in any other individual we had previously encountered. The funny thing is that the tablets also spoke about people with this more advanced gene who would become the new generation of Ancients and one person in particular whose gene would be even more advanced than the others'. This person would be the chosen one, capable of re-establishing peace in the galaxies, but I haven't finished yet. That new generation would be you and the other carriers of the gene and the chosen one would be a person who possesses a stronger version of the gene than you, Jack, since you have the strongest gene of anyone I know. And despite that, even you haven't been able to make the ship work, not even a light, so all we can do is guess until we find someone with a stronger gene than you."

"Alright, enough bashing my inability already. Okay, well if she really is our only solution at this point, I'll ask the Defense Department to authorise her reactivation. Whether she's the chosen one or not, I guess we'll see soon enough."

"That's another issue. The Army has lost track of her and haven't been able to locate her. I got in touch with her a few months ago and she wouldn't respond to my calls, it went straight to voice mail."

"You didn't stress to her how important it was, didn't explain how Earth was in danger of disappearing? We know Angela was alive at this point, if that is really her name, of course."

"I don't know her last name, she never told me and she liked to keep certain things to herself. I think she liked being mysterious."

"Well, the President's arriving in a while with his entourage, so we'll see how things pan out when he gets here."

The loudspeakers announced their arrival. Once they were there, Jack told them about his proposal. The Army Chief of Staff remembered the affair very clearly.

"You do understand that she may be our only solution?"

"Yes, I do. You are authorised to go track her down using whatever means you deem necessary. You will also have the assistance of all secret agencies: FBI, NSA, CIA, you name it...I will warn you now that we have already attempted to track her. Angela does not intend to be found so this won't be an easy order. She has become a very talented hunter and she's an expert in the field. She was our best agent. One other thing: once you have trapped her, I doubt she'll agree to help and perhaps she may not even be able to help you. Getting her on side and flying again will be a big challenge, so I recommend you prepare some pretty convincing arguments to persuade her. Her illness was in the advanced stages the last time we saw her," the Chief of Staff finished as he rose and readied himself to leave.

"Wait. I don't want you to use force against her," Daniel said.

"She's in your hands now, so you can utilise whatever means are most effective for you, but I warn you now: imagine a lion facing off against a gazelle. The lion gives its prey not even the slightest hope or chance of escape. She is the lion and you are her prey. I don't want to say that she'll kill you, she's against the use of violence and killing unless it's absolutely necessary. She'll let you come so close that you'll feel her breath and then, she'll slip through your fingers like sand. She'll let you approach but then she will save herself. I don't know how she does it, but she always escapes. I'll arrange for you to be sent a full copy of her military file, it may speed up your efforts to locate her and dissuade her." With that, he left.

"Thanks for the words of encouragement," Jack remarked, "at least we've been warned, Daniel. Don't worry, we're not gonna let her get hurt. We need her. And you did the right thing telling me. You've done nothing wrong and remember to tell yourself one thing, she _is_ our only solution."

Hardly reassured, Daniel decided to leave to get some time alone. Sam and Mitchell came to see if there was any news, not understanding why Daniel seemed so upset. Jack had explained to them and they soon understood the reason. Mitchell had no idea that Daniel had known her and hadn't known what they were talking about. Not yet anyway. She had completely changed Daniel's life and he had never forgotten her. For now they all consoled themselves in the knowledge that in order to save their world, ANGELA WAS THE ONLY SOLUTION.

**End of Chapter**

Tel choc nok : Thanks for your review


	3. Chapter 3

Good reading !

**Chapter 3 : Abuse of authority**

Two days later, a soldier appeared in front of the General's secretary on a matter of urgency. But in a base like this one, security was of the utmost importance. The secretary refused to let the soldier pass, despite his arguments. He would simply have to wait until the General granted him a meeting between his scheduled appointments with the Jaffa and another with another race asking for medication in exchange for labour. The soldier spent nearly two hours patiently waiting until Jack came out of his office with a smile on his face accompanied by a Jaffa. The soldier instantly stood to attention and requested permission for a meeting, adding that it was a matter of urgency:

"It's about you-know-who."

"Come in, quickly. Why didn't you come straight in?"

"It was your..."

"Yeah, my secretary. Sorry about that, he's bad at his job, come in and, Daniel, could you escort this gentleman back to the gate please?"

"Here you go General, I just came to give you the pilot's personnel file and all mission reports with several citations. I should point out though that anyone who reads these will need to sign a confidentiality agreement. Whoever has access to these reports, choose them well," he then handed O'Neill a large envelope stamped on which in large letters were the words national security, showing that it had not been opened. It also read confidential. The soldier stood at attention and awaited the General's next action.

"Sergeant, thank you for being so prompt. You're dismissed."

The General then called for a meeting with SG1.

Everyone was present except Mitchell, who was on leave and wondered why Jack had had everyone's leave interrupted. They thought it must be an emergency. Jack breezed into the briefing room balancing a pile of paper and pens. The team didn't understand at first why they had to sign this confidentiality agreement, no questions asked, but they somewhat grudgingly signed it. When that was done, he handed out the files and asked them to study them, after which he left without saying a word.

Sam looked around at the others to see whether they understood what was going on. Then they all opened their files and suddenly understood. After they were finished, they went back to their duties.

Teal'c however decided to go and see Jack because he was concerned for his wellbeing. He was in the canteen looking at his jello in disgust.

"Are you well, O'Neill?"

"Yeah. Actually no. I've got this meeting with representatives from different countries and organisations charged with tracking down this girl. I don't even know her, and yet she's caused me all these problems already."

"And you do not know what to say to them, correct?"

"Yeah, and they're angry. That's understandable. We were the ones who exposed our existence to the Ori. They're asking me for news and I don't have any for them, well nothing good anyway. On top of that, the country this pilot comes from is playing hard ball. They won't help us find her. There must be an easier way. I wish Daniel had told me this Angela was French. It just complicates everything, since the Iraq War the French have been even worse with us than usual."

"Do not be concerned, the meeting will be fine and you will not be there alone; General Hammond will also be in attendance."

"Yeah we'll see. I'll have to go to that meeting. Hey do me a favour, will you? Study that file and give me the gist when I get back." He then got up and left.

The General went over in his head what he was about to say, changing some expressions to inject a bit of humour into the proceedings while he was in the car on the way there. It wasn't the time for humour, though, things were getting dramatic. The closer he got to the conference room, the more the knot in his stomach grew. He was afraid of disappointing his superiors and unlike in the past, this time it was unlikely that Thor would ride in to save the day. On top of all that, there wasn't one familiar face in that room. Suddenly he heard a voice he knew very well after having heard it daily for more than five years as he turned to face the approaching General Hammond.

"I hoped you'd be here today. How's it going? It's been a while," Jack said as he held out his hand in greeting to Hammond.

"I'm good, Jack. I'm sorry we have to see each other under such desperate circumstances. We need to go for a drink or two one of these days. Let's get going, the meeting's about to start."

They headed toward the circular tables whose layout allowed all the participants in the room to see one another. There were several people already seated and lively discussions were in full swing between several countries. When the two of them arrived, one could have sworn that all noise fell silent as if waiting for someone to start speaking. Hammond therefore took the chance to start off:

"You all know why we've gathered here today. It must be made clear that the problem we face is one that all our countries must also face. Therefore, it will serve no purpose to split ranks on this issue. We must stand united against this new enemy.

Hammond's words had an immediate effect. Voices were raised instantly and every representative wanted to voice their opinion to such an extent that it was difficult to restore order. Hammond continued:

"Please be calm. We won't resolve this issue by fighting one another. Only together will we find a solution."

"What kind of solution do you propose? My country wishes to take part in the rescue mission even if we have to leave Earth. What I mean is that we want to participate in the project and use the Gate. You have no right to shut us out of this," said the UK representative who had stood up to speak. After this reply, several other countries voiced their agreement.

"It simply isn't possible for all countries to be involved in the project," added the American representative.

"Why should the Americans have control over all Gate operations if, as you say, this is a threat that concerns the whole planet?" said the Chinese representative.

"We will of course discuss all our issues and misunderstandings after we have found a solution," replied the Russian representative. The Russians were in the habit of siding with the Americans since they had lost control of their gate. They placed their trust in the SG teams because they knew how competent they were in responding to these types of problems and as such accepted all conditions asked of them. Even today the Russians sided with the US while the other countries present were in outright revolt, "and I am sure that General O'Neill has every intention of explaining his plan to us."

O'Neill stood up:

"We have already discussed the issue at length with certain representatives gathered here and have come to an agreement. We believe that it would be reasonable to mount an expedition to the planet described in front of you. According to our scientists, the people of this planet should possess the technology of the Ancients. The only problem we have is outlined in the attached report in greater detail. The problem is that their stargate is inaccessible. If any of the scientists present here has an idea of how to counteract this iris, then I'd be willing to hear them out," Jack said, looking at those in attendance, awaiting an answer from another scientist who may have been able to find a solution that Carter had not.

"If you give us more time, then we may be able to find a solution," one of the scientists at the end of the table. He looked every inch the scientist: white beard, little round glasses and a tic disorder.

"But we don't have the time to study the question in greater depth. He is right, we must find another way to get there. Let him continue," retorted a German representative.

Jack thanked him with a nod.

"Bearing that in mind, I think it would be best if we took the aerial option, or in this case, a space ship," on saying this, certain individuals began to argue over who would be in command of this ship. "The ship we've chosen for this purpose is described on page 5 of your handouts. It's one of our latest designs and it's fast, smooth and it contains new technologies."

"Then what are we waiting for, why don't we send it?" asked the British representative.

"Well you see, that's where we run into a bit of a problem; no-one knows how to pilot it."

"But don't you have another ship called the Prometheus or something like that?" said another British representative.

"We do, but both our ships are either under repair or on missions and in any case they aren't fast enough. That's why I'm asking for everyone's cooperation and there is only one person capable of getting it off the ground."

"Then why hasn't he been summoned, it's vital that he help us," the British representative again interrupting Jack. Jack was growing tired of being interrupted and this Englishman was starting to get on his nerves. Hammond decided to intervene:

"This is the point where we need your cooperation."

"What are you saying?"

"Hammond, helping you on this matter is out of the question." This was the first time that the French representative had reacted.

"What is he talking about, Hammond?" asked the British representative.

"The pilot in question is a French citizen and was dismissed by the Pentagon. This pilot was part of the special TOP GUN unit which is made up of elite airmen from several different countries. We have as yet been unable to track this individual down."

"And this is our only solution?" said the Chinese representative.

"I'm afraid so," O'Neill responded.

"In that case, I would like to enforce the Marshall Plan which stipulates that in cases of great danger, the representatives have the right to make any decision, even if it contravenes the laws of the country concerned and which we all as members must obey," the British representative proclaimed.

"That is what the United States and Russia had in mind," the Russian representative answered him, "but, given that Germany and France are two important members of this institution, we need them to also be in agreement, but this is clearly not the case here."

Everyone turned to face the representatives concerned.

"Then let us make the decision, we can't allow one country to derail such an important decision." Again the British representative spoke.

"You mean that you will abuse your authority to make this person come back here despite their objections?" said the Frenchman, by this time visibly angered.

"That's your problem if you don't want to save the planet."

"I will not be dragged into this trivial argument and I also will not aid you in capturing this individual."

"What are the French saying? He is talking as if we were organising a man hunt," demanded the Chinese representative.

"It's all described on page 9," Jack responded, thoroughly whacked out after the day he'd had. He would rather fight the Goa'uld than deal with politicians. It was much easier carrying out a high risk mission than talking to those people.

"But this pilot, it's a woman," the British representative added, as if he thought it was some kind of joke.

"Does that bother you?" O'Neill asked.

"No, not at all."

"I do not know if it is such a good idea to place such a large responsibility in the hands of a woman," the Chinese representative remarked.

After a pause, the Frenchman asked:

"So, are you going to abuse your authority to force her to come back?"

Several of the representatives as well as scientists reacted to those words. They agreed with him; it would be wrong to force her to return against her will.

"He's right, it's abuse of authority," said another scientist.

The Americans looked to the Russians and the British. They were all in agreement. The British concluded:

"Then we agree, we will put the Marshall plan into action."

"Then that settles it, the discussion is closed," the American finished.

"And on the matter of the team, we would like a British representative to participate," the British representative added.

"I think the best thing would be for every major UN member state to submit a list of volunteers - and I mean volunteers - provided that they have the right qualifications and the right records. For the whole of next week, O'Neill will choose candidates based on their ability..." the protests were already breaking out, "inasmuch as is possible. Send in your lists by next week, those chosen will have to undergo a medical, psych test and physical. Okay, that's all, this meeting is adjourned until next week," Hammond continued. Lively discussions started up again between the different representatives about the decisions that had been reached.

The protests only grew louder. Unfortunate though it was, abuses of authority were both common and unfair. Someone was suffering from it all the time. In general, these were the type of people who asked little and were happy in their own quiet lives. This was how Angela's future was going to pan out, he had no doubt about it. However, many countries were now prepared to participate in research efforts and teams from several nations had been created. O'Neill and the others had made a compromise. If they were successful in finding Angela, one soldier from every participating country would have the right to leave for the new planet. Of course, O'Neill would have to select people carefully according to their skills, from a list supplied by their country. The soldiers would have to be motivated in order to secure a place on the mission. He did not want soldiers forced to leave their assignments and homes against their will. Even if the US did place pressure on this individual and make her return, O'Neill wasn't sure how he would break the news to Daniel. He had used his influence against his friend's ex-girlfriend. But how can you force someone to do something that they don't want to do? It was enough just to be at the top of the social scale, Jack thought to himself.

...

Tel nok shock : Sorry it's a mistake and no the fault of Jamie ( it's my automatic translation and i do copy-paste). Palma


	4. Chapter 4

**Good reading !**

**Translate by jamiemelly88**

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**Chapter 4: Mirage 911**

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In a nightclub there was a man sitting by himself at the back of the place. Bryan was a good-looking guy but hadn't hooked up with anyone yet. He was blond, fairly muscular and was always a hit with the ladies. He possessed an irresistible charm that made it hard to refuse him anything. It was a strange sight to see people on their own in places like these. It was actually a place he shouldn't have been in, but he was on a mission and work, after all, is work. And besides, it was hardly unpleasant what with the gorgeous barmaids, the good cocktails and the great music. Not only that, but it was one of the places that the person he was after might spend their evenings. He had volunteered himself to search for Angela, not just because he knew her personally; more than a teammate, she was a friend. He wanted to tell her what he hadn't been able to tell her before. He wanted to thank her for what she had done for him and his brother, but the last time he had seen her, she had been laid out on a hospital bed. He had not had the courage to talk to her, had been afraid to tell her the truth. She had always stood by him in his time of need and he regretted now not having been up front with her at the time. They had been through so much together; so many high-risk missions that they had escaped unscathed until that terrible accident. She was the best pilot he had ever seen. Nobody could have bailed out after such a rapid descent. It was hellish, the plane was spinning ceaselessly, she had managed to put herself slap bang in the middle of trouble. Whatever may have happened, they came out of it alive, but that was not thanks to him._And now the bird's wings are broken and she'll never fly again._He could not stop thinking 'what if'. what if he had been in another fighter? _Would I still be alive?_ Then, all of a sudden, he thought he could see her furtive shadow. He looked insistently but it had disappeared. _Was she really there? Was it possible?_Or was it just another dream brought on by excessive alcohol consumption? These were questions to which he would find no answer.

He stood up, paid without waiting for his change and got out of the club, which had long since lost its appeal. He had overdone it slightly on the cocktails and now his head was spinning and paying the price. He wanted to drop his investigation for that evening. It didn't matter much, reinforcements were on their way to help. And then he would finally be able to tell all; that it, the accident, had not been his fault. Tomorrow would be even more rough than today as his investigation would become yet more arduous. He hoped the Airforce had not sent him a bunch of amateurs and that they had read the file. He had no desire to waste his time explaining its contents to them. Truth be told, he really hoped that these people were not going to turn out to be mindless grunts who would have no qualms about using force to accomplish their mission as quickly as possible.

He had been investigating for three days and wanted to find his mark so that he could protect her and, perhaps more importantly, to be to her the guardian angel that she had been to him.

He entered his hotel room. His instincts had led him to this small town in the Paris Metro Area. Famished, he took out a can of tuna and collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. Meanwhile, he again looked at all the documents he had been able to put together. He knew his friend was around here somewhere; she had told him often how much she wanted to come to Paris and dreamt of studying there.

Watching a plane through the window, he remembered the promise she had made him before their last mission. Her words still echoed through his head:

_"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on your little brother. I'll protect him then let him fly on his own wings."_

Jason, his brother, was also in the special TOP GUN unit but he had been assigned another co-pilot. The shock Bryan had felt when he learned that his co-pilot was a woman had been terrible, but he soon learned to respect her, despite the gender difference. It also didn't hurt that she was nice and pretty to look at, which had greatly aided their relationship. And his brother was not far away from him. That was one of the last discussions they had had and she had kept her word. She always did, smiling as he remembered the time she poured a glass of water on his head, just as she promised. Now that was horrible. His vision was beginning to cloud, he was weary and he decided to go to bed. He immediately fell into a deep sleep, but it was not to be an entirely restful one:

_He was seeing himself again on board the Mirage 911, his combat aircraft, ready for battle. The sky was dark. His pilot, Angela, asked him for the enemy's position: "where are they, Bryan?" But his vision was clouding over and was not able to locate the enemy craft. She was screaming at him to get a reaction, but he couldn't. The on-board instruments were in bad shape; he could see flashing lights everywhere on the dashboard. He still showed no sign of reacting. The system failures were being caused by an enemy missile impact suffered when they swept in to protect his brother so he could land without damage. Looking at the radar readout, there were only two allied aircraft remaining: one exploded before his eyes and the other was requesting assistance. Angela signalled that they would cover him despite the damage to their own plane. The damaged aircraft managed to land safely and Angela regained altitude. They were all alone now; no help would come to their rescue nor protect their six. They had two missiles left to fire. They had to see this through and protect the large vessel with the strange light emanating from it. Suddenly, the radio crackled : "This is Mitchell on Dove 3, respond."_

_"This is Angela on Mirage 911."_

_"A woman?!"_

_"Is that a problem?"_

_"No, not at all, I'm just surprised."_

_"Are we going to keep on chatting like this, Mitchell?"_

_"No, I lost my co-pilot. We're not from the same unit, but we can form up together." "This is Sheppard onboard Comet 13, we require assistance."_

_"Okay, I have two large missiles left, I'll cover you, Sheppard and Mitchell."_

_The other two planes had a hard time landing. Dove 3 had been forced to make a crash landing but Mirage 911 had protected her descent. Hopefully he would still be alive. Now they had to take care of Comet 13. He was in trouble. An enemy vessel had fired a missile at him and the impact would have been fatal if Mirage 911 had not intercepted and taken the hit to her wing. The situation thereafter was critical: the left reactor was in flames and the right wing was half hanging off. The plane started to nosedive just at the moment they heard that Comet 13 had landed. Bryan was still unresponsive, paralysed by his own fear, the slowly blacking out despite his efforts to stay conscious. He needed to help his co-pilot. He heard screaming, screaming that sent a chill through him like a cold shower, screaming that woke him up somewhat. It was the kind of screaming that spoke to untold suffering, of torture mixed with fear. He wanted to help her, soothe her suffering. But his eyes betrayed him and closed slowly despite his efforts. The light took control of both the aircraft and his body. He knew that the battle had ended, but..._

He bolted up in bed, sweating, his muscular torso soaking wet. He wore only pants in the place of pyjamas. His chest moved up and down with a worrying rhythm, his heart beating hard from the shock. This vision still terrified him, but _why?_He buried his face in his hands. He didn't know what had happened following that memory, he had passed out. _How had he ended up in hospital?_He had spent weeks having the same dream, starting from when he learnt that his friend would no longer be able to fly due to health complications, nor would she be able to go back to the Airforce. He had asked his superior about her condition several times. At first, he was reticent, but Bryan refused to let the matter drop. The news had shocked him so greatly that his superior had hidden the truth from Bryan for more than two months. At the start he told him she would probably die, then he said she was recovering but not enough to leave hospital and in the latest news he had given him, he said that she had been irradiated, discharged from the Airforce and was no longer authorised to see her former colleagues for one last goodbye. Now he wanted nothing more than to track her down for the army, now that they had washed their hands of her. _How ironic!_He also had not spoken about his problems. Ever since, he had been this same nightmare. He went to wash his face and take his headache pills. He looked at himself in the mirror: he wasn't the same anymore, no longer that attractive man. He made a promise to take better care of himself as soon as this was behind him. He was looking ill.

_Why had she fallen ill? I was there too, in the same situation. Was it because she was exposed to that light? But I was exposed to that blinding light as well. She had no serious scarring after four months in hospital. But despite that, she was still sick. Is it because she fought so hard to land with minimal damage so she could save both our lives?_

_What happened while I was passed out? I should have fought it, should have helped her. Would that have changed what happened? Had she already been ill before then?_

Flashbacks

He had learnt that the doctors had discovered a number of things following the many tests they had subjected him to. After the accident, he had allowed himself to be subjected to very precise and complex examinations so as to arrive at an explication for his condition. They had then extended their research as the tests he had taken had not given them sufficient results to explain his condition, they simply didn't understand. He had been allowed a visit. He had seen her spread out motionless on a hospital bed, covered by a white sheet and surrounded by doctors discussing her obs. According to the doctors, she had fallen into a deep coma but was technically alright and could eventually be woken up. She was laid out and covered in tubes and bandaging. The doctors and concerned nurses were working ceaselessly around her bed. According to them, when she arrived, she had been in a sorry state. They believed she had been propelled out of the cockpit at high speed. The safety belts had broken under the force of that shock.

The soldiers sent to look for the wreckage of Angela and Bryan's craft had been stunned to find both pilots still alive after such a bad crash. Only Angela was deemed to warrant special attention for transport out of the crash zone, given her condition. When help arrived, her condition had improved slightly after having been attended for two hours at the crash site. But on arrival at the hospital, her heart had stopped beating and her body went into seizure. They had been able to successfully revive her after fifteen minutes, but her heart had been stopped long enough to cause brain damage and she slipped into a deep coma.

Three weeks later the pilots' CO, General McDonald, had told Bryan that the accident had been life-threatening and they were lucky to still be alive. When he had sent out search and rescue parties, he had not expected to find the wreckage of the plane, much less its pilots alive. He had asked Bryan a lot of questions as he and Angela were the last pilots still engaged at the end of the battle. As well as that, they had lost radio contact and with it the pilots' position. He wanted to know how they had managed to land without excessive damage. Bryan explained how the ejector seats had malfunctioned, how one of their two engines had been hit and how they had had to make an emergency landing after coming to the aid of Comet 13 and Dove 3 and had eventually got back on course but then they were hit by a second missile to the wing and thereafter began to approach the ground at a dangerous speed and he had blacked out shortly after the appearance of the yellow light, leaving his co-pilot to face the situation alone. He did not mention the screaming. The only thing that he remembered was that dazzling light and the rapidly approaching ground below them.

"Do you remember anything else?" the general had asked him.

No, he remembered nothing except the craft shaking around him and the fatigue which was taking him over. He also remembered that the dashboard had been covered with electric waves. Had he touched it, he would have been electrocuted, so he understood his friend's screams. She had forced herself to fight the pain so that she could land the craft. McDonald had consoled him :_"there was nothing you could've done, if you had you could have died too and she was the only one who could regain control of the situation, being the best pilot in the unit. Besides, that wasn't the first time she had successfully escaped from a bad situation, even in times of mortal danger."_

A solider, an expert in comms, interrupted this consoling talk . He whispered a few words in the general's ear, so that Bryan would not be able to hear. The general, whose demeanour suddenly changed to one of urgency, told Bryan to follow him. They made their way towards an almost empty room. The little that was filled was taken up by screens on the walls and a few computers. He said to Bryan:

"I asked the best specialists we have to find me some satellite images of your aircraft from the Battle of Antarctica. Our satellite was out of range, so they used others in orbit. In the end, they found some images. I'd like for us to look at them together. This will of course stay strictly between us."

Bryan nodded his consent. He was eager to review the scene and find out what had really happened. The expert in question launched a program on the screen:

"I've put together the images from all the different satellites in chronological order in order to form a video. Okay, here's what we have, Sirs."

They saw the Mirage 911 surrounded by both friends and foes, after which everything played out quickly: a first missile barely missing the craft, carrying on to hit an enemy vessel. On the screens, they saw the planes that had abandoned the fight, then the interception of a second missile fired at an allied vessel, that of his brother. Thanks to a well-targeted missile from Mirage 911, the bogey's missile was hit before it found its mark and exploded before causing any serious damage. The Mirage followed the allied plane until it reached the secure zone, allowing it to land safely. After this, the Mirage re-established course to hook up with Angela's boyfriend's aircraft. A torpedo was getting dangerously close to her plane, which was already in trouble and so she decided to head towards the missile so as to stop it in its tracks. Her boyfriend had taken advantage of the situation to get out of the line of fire and land his craft safely. The impact was unavoidable; she had made the decision, the impact had been to one of her engines. This damage however was not enough to stop the Mirage. It was the last allied craft still engaged in the battle. Bryan looked at the general and saw two more enemy vessels disappear from the screen. Suddenly, two other vessels were seen to approach Mirage 911. They were not coloured in red, which usually signified enemy combatants. The general, surprised, asked for an explanation. Bryan told him that the aircraft were from other allied units who had formed up with them for mutual assistance but he no longer remembered their names.

One of these two faded from the monitor and the second was in clear difficulty as a missile was trailing it. Once again, Mirage 911 intercepted the missile, damaging a wing in the process. That was the last straw. The plane began to dive towards the ground below, the plane started flashing on one of the screens, indicating that it was experiencing technical problems and on the others it was noticeable due to the smoke caused by the reactor that was in the process of breaching. Gradually, the plane began to pull horizontal, but it was still moving far too fast and it was too late to slow it down. The vessel was headed for the surface and nothing else could be seen apart from the ground. This was the end of the video. The general visibly moved, decided to sit down, shocked as he was by what he had seen in the video. The Mirage 911 had saved numerous lives and was in its own way partly responsible for their victory. From what? And against whom? The general did not know, as it had been deemed classified State Secret information. He had sent his men into almost certain slaughter without knowing the reason. Many in his unit had lost their lives without knowing why. He had been left with very few pilots: Bryan, his brother Jason and his co-pilot, Angela, her boyfriend David and his co-pilot.

Bryan and General McDonald went to visit Angela. She was awake, well almost. She still had a way to go. The doctors informed them that she had made remarkable progress since she had come out of the coma. She seemed to be regaining her strength. They even joked that she could probably run a marathon, to lighten the mood. But no-one present was in the mood for laughter. Bryan went to visit her often after that. And then one day he arrived in her room as usual only to find that she was gone. All of a sudden, he started to panic: _"did she have a relapse, did something else happen to her?"_He stepped out into the corridor panicking and then he saw her, walking towards him with a big smile on her face : _"she's so beautiful, radiant. Do I have feelings for her, or am I just worried for my co-pilot?_The thought of having lost her had undoubtedly brought them closer. There was plenty for them to talk about while avoiding the subject of the accident.

Shortly thereafter, he went back to her room and saw that somebody else was now occupying it. He went to look for a doctor who informed him that she was no longer receiving visitors and had changed service. Seeing the worried look on Bryan's face, the doctor explained to him that she now had to follow specialised re-education sessions and a training regimen to recover her physical fitness.

End of flashback

He hadn't seen her since.

Thousands of miles away from Bryan, at the SGC, in Jack's office, Mitchell entered.

"You wanted to see me, General?"

Jack handed him a form. He was busy selecting the team which was due to depart on the new vessel.

"Why do you want me to sign this?"

"Oh, yeah, you're not up to speed, are you?"

"Up to speed with what?"

"Sign it, I'll explain everything. Oh, by the way, how was your leave?"

"Good, thanks. Okay, I'm listening," he said, signing the form.

"You're aware that we've decided to go to the planet in the Dragon Galaxy?"

"Yes sir. About that, I think we oughtta give it a name."

"We've chosen our pilot and now we need to go look for them," seeing that Mitchell was listening attentively, he continued, "which is why I had you sign that confidentiality agreement because the file concerning this individual is classified top secret and I need you to study it down to the smallest detail to help you find this person, do you understand?"

"Yes, but this person isn't in the military, so why do they need to be found?"

"They're no longer in the military and are now in hiding."

Mitchell handed the form back.

"Okay, I you to find those details in that file as soon as possible," Jack continued.

"Ok, I'll go find the file."

At that moment, Daniel arrived in a triumphant air:

"I think I've found something that we should all find interesting."

"I hope so Daniel. Could you hand the file to Mitchell?"

Daniel did as he was requested and Mitchell opened it and began to read.

"There it is, it says in the files that she wanted to follow science studies in Paris, so we should be able to narrow down our search a little."

"Good idea and a good start. Get prepped with Carter and take Teal'c along with you, if you need brawn and muscle, he's your guy."

Jack looked at Mitchell, he had a worried look on his face. Mitchell knew that face, that girl, he knew her. There was a flash and he understood. He had seen her at the hospital after the accident in the battle over Antarctica, but he had also had contact with her during her stay and during the battle. It all came back in just a few seconds, the moments they had shared in the same room. They had both been in critical condition. She had left and he remembered her departure well, she had given him a lingering kiss. He hadn't understood her gesture. What was her name again? _"It was Angela, I think. How can that be, I knew she was a pilot, but why did they choose her?" He had heard all the rumours that she was able to handle all sorts of fighters with great ability. Why not? What happened to her?"_He wanted to see her again to see how she was getting on. He wasn't surprised to learn she had overcome her injuries. She was a fighter.

"General, I think I should join them."

"Why" they both looked at him surprised, "is there something wrong?"

"Because I know Angela, General, and according to her file, they could use all the help they can get given her impressive mission record, I don't think they made her a secret agent for nothing."

"How do you know her, then?"

We were in the same hospital ward, she was in the bed next to mine and I was a lot luckier than her. I'm sure it was Angela. I spent a few months with her in the serious injuries section, we got close."

"Ah, yeah, I remember but with all those bandages and tubes I hadn't recognised her. What kind of close?" Mitchell had no idea why Jack was looking so insistently at Daniel as he asked that question.

"Let's just say we helped one another to overcome testing times. She was a great help in getting me to walk again; she gave me back my courage and I think I know where she might have gone, she mentioned a few places she'd have liked to go," he said, without mentioning the kiss.

"That's all? Ah, ok, I thought...never mind, forget it."

"I don't get it, what do you mean 'that's all'?"

"Forget about it, it's one of Jack's bad jokes," Daniel said.

"He's gonna have to find out sooner or later, he has to know everything if this investigation is going to succeed," he said smiling. "Ok, it's settled then, you fly out at noon."

"Two hours!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"Well yes, the clock is ticking and the Ori are approaching."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about them," Mitchell said.

"Speaking of forgetting things, you'll be accompanied by a team for this expedition, a little mix of everything. Some of them will be there to help you track down this precious pilot. Well, you'll have plenty of time to get to know each other," Jack gave them a file.

"This is the mission team you picked?" Daniel read the list.

"Yes, some of them aren't available yet and I still haven't chosen, so if you can help me out I wouldn't object. You have four days to find her."

"What, that's it? Yeah, I know, the clock's ticking," Daniel said, seeing Jack eye his watch.

Daniel and Mitchell headed out of Jack's office in silence and each one went their separate way to get ready.

Jack was worried. Mitchell was right, it was going to be a tall order tracking her down. She was a masterful escape artist. They had been warned and they had accepted the challenge.

* * *

**End of chapter**

**See you soon**


	5. Chapter 5

**Good reading !**

**Translate by jamiemelly88**

* * *

**Chapter 5 :The Search is on.**

* * *

Bryan had gotten up pretty early due to the nightmares and went headed straight for the place where he was due to rendez vous with the new team. The meeting point was a small bar/ restaurant facing a kindergarten. He had gotten there far too early but it was no big deal. As it was, there was nothing else to do now except wait.

Daniel was late; he wanted to make sure he didn't forget to bring anything. He finally hooked up with the team at the exit to the base, two large bags at his side.

"Don't tell me you brought those tablets with you? We're going for one week!" Mitchell remarked.

A chopper was waiting to take them to the airport to catch the next flight to Paris. What they hadn't been expecting was to see General Jack O'Neill sitting in the pilot's seat.

"We're still waiting for a few people to join your team, I'd like to introduce you before you get to know each other."

After a half hour's flight, the chopper arrived at its destination upon which it touched down and its passengers stepped off.

They made their way over to a room which customs had so kindly put at the team's disposal where there were already people waiting inside.

"I'm glad you answered my calls," Jack said as he shook hands with the as-yet unknown faces. "So here we have Dr Daniel Jackson, archaeologist, Dr Samantha Carter, physicist, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, representative of the US Air Force and Teal'c, Dr Jackson's bodyguard. And let me introduce John Smith, British special agent and Jack Croft, a Russian special agent currently on detached service with the FBI. They're going to be helping you in your mission."

"My government warned me that you plan to capture this wo..., this pilot, because it happens that we have already had dealings with her," Jack C. answered.

"Oh yeah? That's strange, and how do _you _know her and what's _your _relationship with her?" O'Neill, surprised at this announcement, made a point of looking Daniel's way as Teal'c laughed inside given that he was up to date on the situation, unlike Mitchell who showed no signs of understanding O'Neill's jibe.

"Well, in my case, we were enemies," Jack C. said.

"How do you mean, "enemies"?" O'Neill asked, starting to grow somewhat concerned.

"We were both charged with returning the same person to our respective countries and she double-crossed me."

"Ah, that really is a shame. I mean, of course, it's hard being foxed by a comrade but when that comrade's a woman, well, I can only imagine, that must have been tough."

"I'm sorry, I don't see what that has to do with any of this. Women are just as capable as men, if not more," Sam interrupted.

"You don't understand, it's a question of dignity." Seeing that Sam was getting ready to respond, he didn't want her to get more worked up, which was a shame as he loved seeing her angry, it gave her such a sexy glow. Chasing the thought away, he changed tack. "So, how did you cross paths with her?"

"A joint mission that ended badly, let's just say our points of view didn't exactly agree."

"Oh really, that's all...oh so you weren't friends or anything? Well, that's good, because I want you to put aside any differences you might have with her because we really do need this pilot and not in pieces, be they big or small. Is this really _everything _you have to say on the matter?" emphasising 'everything' for Daniel's benefit although Mitchell, not understanding why O'Neill was pushing the way he had been, felt a little uncomfortable.

"Jack, stop barraging them with all these questions. Can we talk in private?" Daniel looked insistently at Jack.

"Whatever you have to say, Daniel, I'm sure you can say it in front of everyone...okay, if you insist."

They both left the room.

"So, I take it you also had the misfortune of crossing her path?" John asked.

"It wasn't exactly like that, she was actually a great help to us, but I gather your experiences with her haven't gone off as well as ours," Sam conceded.

"Well, I will admit she's a very active target, which is where I always failed whenever we met," John said while taking a chair and sitting closer to Sam, "so, what help was she to you?" he said, wanting to find out more.

"Uh, quite a big one as a matter of fact, she helped us to ..., she's a very capable scientist in general and an excellent chemist in particular.

At that moment Daniel and Jack stepped back into the room. Teal'c knew they had been discussing Angela and Daniel's relationship with her. Jack clearly wouldn't leave the subject alone and Daniel had no desire for everyone else to find out.

"Okay, now that the introductions are out of the way, all that's left for me to say is that, for Jack and John, this is a test to see whether or not you'll be continuing with the team. I would also remind you that you will be taking your orders from Colonel Carter. Lastly, I'd like to wish you good luck and good hunting," Jack took an amused look at the men and woman of his future team. He hoped he had made the right choice in selecting a mix of good elements and old acquaintances of Angela, even if they were enemies.

The team made for Terminal C from where they would take the next plane headed for Charles De Gaulle Airport and left Jack to his thoughts.

6 hours later, the plane touched down in heavy rainfall. A hirecar stood waiting to take them to their rendez-vous point. According to the file, the meeting was to take place at 10 AM French time. They were late and if that were not enough, they were unable to hasten that tardiness given that the rain was still falling on the runway. This day was not starting well.

Bryan had been waiting for more than an hour: the search team was late, actually very late. He was beginning to lose his patience. _"Maybe they changed their minds." _He asked for the bill and started for the door when a group of people made their way towards his table, military judging by what they were wearing.

"Hello, are you Bryan?" Daniel asked in French.

"Yes, that's me. Good to meet you. You?"

"I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson and these are Sam, Teal'c, Cameron Mitchell, Jack Croft and John Smith."

"I know Jack and John already; I don't think it would be a good idea to take part in the search."

"And why is that?" Daniel asked.

"Because they're enemies. I've read the mission reports and I'm sure she won't react well to seeing them again. She might even kill the two of you."

"Well, we can defend ourselves," John retorted.

"You're not here for revenge."

"What do you mean by revenge?" Daniel said a little panicked.

"Long story..."

"One that Jack neglected to tell us," Daniel cut him off.

"Well, I hope you all speak the language well enough to help in our search. Daniel, your accent leaves something to be desired put it'll work."

"Yes we all speak it fluently apart from Sam and Teal'c," Daniel answered.

"Okay then, follow me, I'll show you to where we're staking out and then I'll tell you what I've found out."

They left the bar in the pouring rain. The car took them to a fairly nice four-storey apartment block. Now that there was more than just him, Bryan had checked out of his hotel room for this more discrete apartment. Led by Bryan, they made their way to their place on the third floor and Bryan opened the door. It was already furnished and had been set up with computers and other equipment. Even the fridge was stocked and everything looked set for a stay of a few days. Bryan headed towards a chest where all his belongings had been transferred to. He opened it up and proceeded to dig around for the papers he was looking for. He was disorganised but given the circumstances, now was not the time to be organised, time was running out. At last, he found what he was looking for:

"There we go, the address for the university she might be studying at. She wanted to study science and I was told these were the biggest universities. I've already been to three of them but no trace of Angela."

"We should split into three groups so that we can search the other three universities more quickly," Teal'c suggested.

"I don't think it's such a good idea for us to split up. If we ever do find her, it may take all of us to corner her," Bryan said, "She's good, if there are more of us, we stand a better chance she won't escape."

"He's right, it would be best if we were all there to take her by surprise," John said while flicking through the file.

"Yes, but I'd prefer not to frighten her. We should try to start with a simple and direct approach," Daniel said.

"If that's your plan then you won't have any need for John's or my presence there as I think she's more likely to run if we are," said Jack C. as he took a beer from the fridge.

"I think we ought to take her by surprise because it really is going to be difficult to flush her out and I don't want to take the risk she'll escape under our noses," thought Mitchell who had remained silent throughout their journey but his thoughts were lost.

"I'd suggest going for her as directly as possible, not attacking but surprising her so she won't be able to react without her feeling as though she's in danger," Sam decided, whose decision it was to ultimately make as mission commander. There was no margin for error nor was there much time. She knew Angela, thought her to be in a fragile state and had no desire to "take her". She must not disappoint General O'Neill. With a little luck, he might invite her out to dinner and maybe go further but it was best not to get her hopes up. She knew there was something between them, a spark, she loved it when he cracked his jokes, she was the only one laughing inside. She promised herself that once the Ori problem was dealt with, that she would make the first move as she could not spend her whole life waiting for him to do it. Her spirits fluttered, she could already imagine it...

"Okay, so that's the plan, that works for me, as long as we don't have to spend the whole week in this apartment," John complained, "where do we start, boss?"

"Have you been able to gather more information, Bryan?" she asked, slipping out of her daydream just as it was going somewhere..."anything that might indicate what direction to head in?"

"Well, I don't know exactly what subject she planned on studying but I do know she loved sport and the second university on the list has a very good sports complex and equestrian centre. The university itself is located fairly close to an army base on the edge of the Paris area, about one hour's drive from here. And I know that she loved animals and dreamt of seeing the wild horses in Nevada, which is where the equestrian centre comes in. It's not much, but it's something."

"Agreed, why not, and anyway Paris is easily accessible, " Mitchell chimed in, "and the prospectus made that place out to be nice: library, nightclub, sports complex, plenty of shops, anything a young student full of life would want We should go check it out at the students' office and then the students themselves and see if they've seen her face before."

"We should definitely ask the guys, she looks good by anyone's standards," Sam remarked.

"But let's not forget what she's like beneath that face. But Sam's right, men always remember a pretty face and what goes with it," Jack C. admitted.

"Yeah definitely..." Mitchell started.

"Good, well then it's settled, we'll proceed as planned, not wanting to hear the whole discussion and pretending not to have been paying attention, Sam headed to the fridge and thought about what she wanted to eat opting for pizza, "you all have ten minutes to eat and get ready, I won't be waiting for latecomers," she said, looking at Daniel in particular.

Everyone moved to get ready, each heading their own separate way, all reflecting on their own concerns.

Daniel asked himself how he would react to seeing her. He had actually been the one to decide they should split because they were too different which she had understood and that actually had hurt him. He had been afraid of her powers when she had her accident. It was no fault of hers, the medication had caused her to overcharge but she could have killed them because of their desire to exploit her powers. It had tortured him; she had suffered so much while he, instead of comforting her, had split up. To be honest, he had never been the happiest soul around, even before they started going out.

Sam wondered if she would be able to forgive her. Angela had spoken to her of her worries about the medication she was taking. Sam hadn't taken her seriously. Angela had placed her trust in her by confiding in Sam and she had given nothing in return apart from remaining silent.

Mitchell hoped she would remember him and was counting on their prior friendship in the hopes of her cooperating. He wondered what she would look like now she had overcome her injuries and if she had changed much.

Jack wanted to see her again; the last time they had met, she parted ways with him as a thief and left no explanation. He wanted to know why she had betrayed him. John meanwhile wanted to see her reaction given their last mission where he had had the last word. While true that he had been wrong in the way he had double-crossed her, he had broken the rules in doing so and he was proud to take up this challenge by whatever means. He wanted her to understand that he was also a good agent. Besides, he couldn't let her win all the time.

But if they wanted to persuade her to help, they would have to put their issues to one side for the sake of their mission.

The rain still falling, the team went to begin its search hoping for a swift end.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**


	6. Chapter 6

**Good reading !**

**Translate by jamiemelly88**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Needle in a Haystack**

* * *

The team met up in the university they had chosen to begin their search. Sam had already phoned and arranged a meeting with the Dean, Jeannot Fournier, adding that it was a matter of some urgency. He had been able to schedule a meeting in the early afternoon despite his professional obligations which until two weeks ago had been a real battlefield. Before they had to attend that meeting, the team decided to split off into groups and ask the students or lecturers milling around questions relating to their mission. Upon seeing just how bustling this place was, they suddenly got an uncomfortable feeling in their stomachs; there really were such a lot of people that they had no idea where to even begin. Jack paired up with Daniel, John with Mitchell with Teal'c teaming off with Sam and Bryan. They decided to head for strategic points: the first team would make its way around campus asking the students what they knew, the second decided to head for the Dean's office where there were fewer people for Mitchell's sake as much as anything else, all the hustle was making his head spin. The third team would make for the cafe.

Mitchell and John headed over to the office complex. The secretary, less than likeable, was not in the mood to help them, telling them that nobody was allowed access to the files. She soon changed her mind when John Smith showed her his NID badge. Embarrassed at the way she had behaved and more than a little confused, the secretary dutifully went about finding them an empty room and put the files at their disposal. She even brought them some coffee to try and make up for her error.

"Which documents are you looking for exactly?"

"We're looking for a student, so if it's possible, we'd like to see all the student files grouped by order of subject," Mitchell asked her.

"Of course, we'd be happy to help you, if you need anything just let me know. I hope this student isn't in any trouble."

"Stop asking so many questions," John cut her off.

"Alright, I'll go and look for the documents you asked for." She headed out of the room, leaving the two men alone with their coffee.

"She likes you, Mitchell."

"She does not, she just feels bad for her attitude and she's making up for it, that's all."

"Okay, then how come there's so much milk in your coffee and not a drop in mine?"

"Huh, you don't have any milk?"

"So, where should we start? We only know her first name and we have her photo, that's provided she hasn't changed too much since it was taken. Got any ideas Mitchell?"

"Nope and anyway what d'you mean 'changed'?"

"Ah you know all those things girls her age are into: makeup, hair dye, clothes, tattoos, piercings..."

"Piercings!"

"Yes, she must have changed the way she looks to have been able to blend in and hide. I'll bet she looks good with tattoos and piercings, that whole rebel look."

"Well that's not good, so if she doesn't look like she does in the photo we have of her, then how are we supposed to recognise her?"

"By her eyes, Mitchell."

"Are you feeling alright, John?"

"I'm serious, everyone has unique eyes and I'd recognise hers anywhere, I know that light, that flame that feeds off the fire in those eyes and it's where all her strength lies. All we need is to get her angry enough and I would know her by that look that could kill and freeze you where you stand."

"Get her angry? You're sure about this? And then what, she kills us or do you have some plan to catch her this time, John?"

"All we'll need is for her to see my face, for our gazes to meet for a few seconds so yes I think I'd be able to recognise her unless she's wearing lenses."

-"Even if she hasn't changed that much, how are we going to find her amongst 100,000 students, Mitchell, we can't look them all up?"

"Bryan said she loved science and that's why I asked the secretary to group the files according to the subject they were studying. And Sam told me how good she was in chemistry and physics so we'll start off by looking at the 'scientific' students.

"Ah, now I get it, that's why she was so good with explosives, knew when to run and how to take a bomb apart."

"She sure is taking her sweet time, this secretary, I hope she didn't forget about us," Mitchell said.

"Show her your badge next time so she doesn't forget. Failing that, just flash her your winning smile and I'm sure she'll hurry up."

Just then, the secretary arrived with two others carrying a trolley full of files. On seeing that particular sight, Mitchell's head started aching."

"These are all the files we have, grouped by UFR."

"ufr, what's that?" Mitchell asked.

"No, U-F-R," she said with a good English accent. She proceeded to give them the acronym's English definition.

"Oh, you can speak English, and good English at that?"

"It's required because of all the foreign students. We are an international university and anyone can study here whether they speak French or not," the secretary went on in English.

"I see, well if you're okay with that, then can we carry on speaking in English? I've reached the limit of my French and I'm not that comfortable speaking it," Mitchell suggested.

"Alright, if you prefer, I'll leave these files with you and if you would like, I can give you private lessons," she left the room, closing the door behind her.

John turned towards Mitchell with a wide grin on his face.

"I told you she had the hots for you."

Not knowing how to respond to that without digging himself a deeper hole, Mitchell took the first file out of dozens of piles of identical folders, hoping that Angela's would be somewhere in this room and not in the larger one.

John and Mitchell started to scan through the piles of folders.

Meanwhile Daniel and Jack were asking passers-by for information without much success. Those they asked either had not seen the person in the photo they were shown, or they didn't recognise her. They decided to take a break in their search and went to the cafe near the main university building. They both bought a soda as they were on duty. They started talking about their respective fields of work. Naturally, such a conversation remained necessarily vague given that they were state secrets. Having exhausted that avenue of conversation, talk swiftly turned to Angela Daniel in particular wanting to know more about the relationship between Angela and Jack:

- "How did you first meet her?"

-"Who?"'

- "Angela"

-"Ah well, my first meeting with Angela was, how shall I say...explosive. What about you, Daniel?"

-'"What do you mean by 'explosive'?"

- "Let's just say she blew up my car, a beautiful Porsche."

- "That's too bad for the Porsche, even for..."

- "Yes, that's what happens when one has a run-in with her. So when did you first meet her, Daniel?"

- "Me? Well, ah, Colonel Carter introduced me to her; they were working on an astrophysics project and Angela was helping her to solve several complex equations. Did you ever see her again after her accident?"

-"Yes, I did, a year later. She was still in the French Army but if what I heard is right, she was planning to quit and offer her resignation just after our last mission together. It was a mission in Iraq a French-British journalist had been kidnapped as well as two doctors working for Médecins sans Frontières by rebels fighting the provisional government. In addition to that, we were to investigate the presence of chemical and nuclear weapons suspected to be in Iraq's possession. Our orders were to destroy the weapons if possible under the strictest secrecy.

They would have discussed their recollections more deeply were it not for Daniel's mobile ringing:

-"Hello?"

-"It's Sam, I'd like you to join me in front of the Dean's office, Jeannot Fournier. We're changing the teams around: Teal'c, Jack and I will head for Angela's old army base to see what else we can learn about her from her time there. While we do that, you and Bryan can have a chat with the Dean.

-"Ok, we'll be right there. I take it you haven't found anything on your end".

-"Negative. The students and staff see so many people every day that they don't remember every face. I hope John and Mitchell have more luck on their end. We'll debrief this evening. After your meeting with the Dean, head back and look through Bryan's files. I've ordered everyone to meet back at the apartment in six hours' time."

-"Ok, I'll see you this evening," Daniel said as he hung up.

-"So, what's new?" Jack asked.

-"We're changing the teams. Bryan and I are going to see the Dean. You are to head off with Sam and Teal'c to Angela's old army base somewhere near the Paris area."

-"Finally, some action. It's not that I'm getting bored of you all but I'm just missing a little action. Speaking of Teal'c, the guy is pretty strange, even kooky. He seems a little aloof and just a little scary; he doesn't come off as normal to me."

-"Why?" Daniel asked, a little surprised as he hoped Teal'c's cover hadn't been blown.

-"Well for one thing he's always wearing a hat whether he's inside or outdoors and it's a pretty awful hat at that, no taste at all. He has a look that says "stay where you are, or else..." and he doesn't always seem to understand what we say. I asked him what he thought of Angelina Jolie and her last film. Everybody knows who she is but it seemed to me like he'd never even heard of her, as if he was from another planet altogether."

-"You may not be far from the truth there," Daniel let slip involuntarily.

But it was now too hard to take that back. Thinking about the gaffe he had just made, he realised he wasn't the best when it came to keeping secrets and he was a terrible liar at the best of times. He just hoped Jack hadn't heard him. That hope was duly dashed when Jack continued:

-"He's really strange, almost like he's lived in a desert all his life. What was that you said?" only now obviously latching on to what Daniel had revealed.

-"Uhh, what did I say now? Well, uh, actually he did spend a lot of time living away from civilisation in the Egyptian desert next to Pharaohs' tombs. He takes part in digs so yeah, I guess he is quite cut off from the media," Daniel attempted to backtrack.

-"Poor guy, he's never seen Angelina Jolie, I feel sorry for him. Ok, come on, let's get going."

At that they stood up and paid the bill. Jack had trouble paying for it as he was unaccustomed to paying in Euros. Daniel who was far more at ease paid on their behalf and they made their way to their destination.

Daniel was relieved that Jack had stopped asking questions about Teal'c. He was not entirely comfortable about lying in these situations and in fact about lying in general. As far as he was concerned, relationships were founded on mutual trust and honesty. As they walked towards the Dean's office, they scarcely exchanged a word, a pregnant silence between two people in particular, leaving the other uneasy. Finally, they joined up with Sam's team.

-"Well as far as the campus goes, our investigations haven't turned up anything," Daniel began, " and the likelihood of finding anyone who knows Angela seems slim."

-I agree, it's difficult given that everybody's constantly moving around," Bryan added on.

-"I think we'd be better off conducting a thorough search of the university and military personnel files we have for her. Incidentally, it seems like roughly half the students here live in halls. There are five housing areas spread out over the university. I think Angela would have opted for a room near the school," Sam said.

-"So, that means we have half the campus to pay a visit to but that admittedly is based entirely on supposition. On top of that, this university is huge: we could search all week and barely scratch the surface. If she chose to hide in this place, she made the right choice, which does not surprise me one bit," Jack remarked.

-Yes, but all we have for the moment is supposition. Come to think of it, we're not even sure if this is the right university," Sam answered him.

-"I believe we are indeed in the correct place. As Jack Croft says, it is an ideal location for those who do not wish to be found," Teal'c commented.

-"Well, whatever, let's go see. You too, Jack. You know what to ask Daniel," Sam ended.

Daniel nodded his assent. Am, Teal'c and Jack left for the base where they had a meeting set-up for 1600 hours. That time was fast approaching and it was Jack who took the wheel, glad to finally be doing something.

At the same time, Daniel and Bryan sat themselves down in the waiting room, in patient expectation. The secretary, a petite blonde woman whose miniskirt flattered her no end brought them some coffee. It seemed to them that the French drank far too much of this stuff and the strength at which they drank it was very noticeable. In Daniel's view, they were a people who lived in perpetual stress. They waited several minutes until someone neared their room. It turned out to be the Dean; he was a small man, portly and wearing a neat beard and moustache and stood before his waiting visitors. He had more hair on his face than he did on his head. Brown hairs fought a losing battle with white. He seemed far older than his years, doubtless due to the issues caused by being responsible for so many students and his obligations such as the excessive amount of paperwork he was expected to complete and the security measures that had to be taken these days. This ageing was made visible by the small-lensed spectacles balanced on his nose. In spite of his small stature, his calculating stare brought him to everyone's attention; he gave off the sense of knowing all that went on in his university and looked at people as if he could see right through them. This was the first impression those in the room gained of the Dean. He regarded them with those piercing eyes, judging them. He obviously must have thought well of Daniel as he then turned his full attention to the archaeologist smiling and offering the younger man his hand.

-"Welcome to this university, I am truly sorry I couldn't arrive any sooner," he shook Daniel's hand firmly, despite his age.

-"Thank you, and don't worry, it's not a problem, I understand you must be busy what with overseeing this huge place, it can't be easy," Bryan said, in turn shaking the Dean's hand.

-"Yes, it is all becoming a little too much, given my age if you see what I mean," the Dean showed them the way to his office and let them in before stepping in himself. This courtesy, according to Daniel, was French people's best quality. Bryan was less convinced, however; he had no special love of their language, which he found too difficult and still had trouble understanding, the humour especially, which to him were rather stupid. He was relying on Daniel to have the conversation with the Dean. Daniel by contrast seemed perfectly comfortable speaking the language, reflected by how much as he loved the people who spoke it; he just seemed to thrive on contact with people with a different cultural outlook.

-"To what do I owe the pleasure, Gentlemen...?", Dean Jean Fournier began.

-"Let me introduce Dr. Daniel Jackson, an American archaeologist and myself, Bryan, US Air Force."

-"And what can I do for you?" the Dean asked without preamble.

-"We're looking for a former military pilot whose help we need on a vitally important mission," Daniel explained, stressing the word 'vitally'.

-"And you believe that this pilot is here and he's studying at my university?" the Dean went on.

-"Actually, the pilot's a woman. She's an excellent student, gifted in computer science, chemistry and physics. She wanted to come and live in Paris and go to a good school where she'd be able to help contribute to the scientific community and develop her scientific potential," Daniel explained.

-So, this pilot is a woman and a genius student," the Dean thought aloud, "it is surprising to find the three things in one package, especially in the Air Force. It is not an easy thing to be a woman in the military."

-"That was her experience of it," Bryan answered him, to Daniel's surprised regard. He had no idea that Angela's life had been quite so complicated, "all we know about her is her first name: Angela."

-"That is a little vague. The problem here, as you have put so well, is that this is an international university. So, you see, there are a lot of genii and I do not believe there is any woman from the French Air Force enrolled here. Soldiers receive separate treatment given the requirements of their career. These individuals are exceptional individuals and as such I know each of their files by heart, as they are filed separately from the rest," the Dean said.

-"The problem is that she is no longer in the Air Force, all we know is that she is gifted. We believe she's here since it happens to be the best place for research as well as the area itself being pretty dynamic, in other words the perfect place for people of her age," Daniel added.

-"If you say so. I only hope she hasn't gotten herself into trouble for the Americans to be so interested in her. There is a good reason for your presence here, isn't there?" the Director asked.

-"No, not at all, she's done nothing wrong if you're talking about terrorism or anything like that," Bryan quickly jumped in.

-"Then there is no reason for me to worry. Do you have any idea when she might have enrolled?" he asked, while he was typing commands into his computer.

-"Not exactly, but at most a year and a half ago. I think she would have enrolled on a one-year course," Daniel calculated.

-"In that case, she must be skipping the first year and catching up with the first-year courses so as to not be left behind the other students. These students are put under special supervision determined according to their needs because it is admittedly difficult to follow a two-year course, being as intensive as they are. This is why they are followed so closely by their instructors, psychologists and me myself when necessary. Do you know if she had studied previously or what level she was at?" he continued typing on hi student database. The Dean awaited their response.

-"I don't think she ever graduated but I do know she was doing a correspondance course in science studies so she could keep her skills up to scratch. What level would we be talking about, incidentally?" Daniel queried.

-"Here, as in the rest of Europe, we're following a brand new system, the BMD: Bachelor's-Master's-Doctorate. Well, my search has not shown me any results, but it has at least narrowed the list of suspects, as there are not many students studying the two-year course," Jeannot finished.

-"My colleagues are already going over the personnel files," Bryan said.

-"I'll ask my staff to send them the classified student files as soon as possible. Do you have a photo of this young lady? I could ask security and staff to look out for her and let us know if they spot her," the Dean suggested.

-"No, that's alright, we might scare her by doing that, but you might recognise her. This is the most recent photo we have of her," Daniel said as he handed him the photo.

The Dean looked attentively at the photo. He spent several minutes like that, visibly racking his brain. Although he saw so many people, this person was reminded him of someone, until a spark of remembrance shone in his eyes:

-"I feel as though I have seen her somewhere before, but I don't remember where. I think you would be better off going to see the psychologist and his team. One of them should recognise her and he knows the files of all his patients by memory. Unfortunately he is in Lyon for a conference today, but he is scheduled to be back tomorrow. I will send him a message that he should make your enquiries a priority and I will forward you a message confirming your meeting. I believe that is all I can do to help you," the Dean finished.

-"Thank you for your cooperation and your help, the fact that you she seems familiar to you helps us enormously. We may well be in the right place," Daniel stood up and shook the Dean's hand once more.

Daniel and Bryan left the room, leaving the Dean alone with his reflections. He had thought long and hard on it but he simply couldn't place her. The woman in his mind was not the one in the photo; a young woman full of life and smiling. The woman he had met was down, only the light in her eyes showed that she was still alive at all. After that it was a total blank. The first thing he had noticed was those eyes. _"Those bright eyes were full of both energy and sadness, I thought I saw flames or sparks in them. I must be so tired I'm hallucinating, I'm working too hard." _At a single glance, he could tell that the girl had potential despite her health.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Bryan summed up what they had learned:

-"We know one thing at least: she's here. You saw the way he looked at that photo. He recognised her even if he doesn't remember exactly who or where she was," Bryan concluded.

-"We'd be best going back to the apartment and going through the files you have."

-"Let's take the bus, I know this town pretty well, c'mon," he called as they headed for the nearest bus stop.

-"I thought you didn't like this country," Daniel intimated.

-"What I don't like is the language. There aren't that many people here who speak our language well. Having said that, the food is much better than ours and the girls are pretty plus Angela had me visiting Paris quite a few times. It's actually the people themselves, they make me uncomfortable. When I got here, I thought I'd be able to master the language with Angela's help. Truth is though, it's not enough to be able to speak the language; they speak so quickly that it's an achievement if you can keep up with them. I don't know if it's just a Paris thing because people are all so busy and that gets reflected in their language. That was why I asked how well you spoke French. I can't say anything for the others, but apart from your accent, you seem very comfortable speaking."

-"Yeah, I guess when you're an archaeologist, you tend to talk to a lot of foreigners."

-"What time is it?" Bryan asked.

-"Sorry? Ah, it's 12 minutes past 5, why?"

-"The bus is usually here five minutes from now so we should be there around 5:32, how does that sound to you?"

-"Great."

They stood waiting for the bus to arrive.

While they waited, in a room in the administration building, Mitchell looked at hs watch:

-"We're gonna have to quit studying for now. That's a bummer; I was gettin' real worked up to read more of these boring files."

-"Maybe if we ask nicely, they'll let us take our work with us so we can carry on at home," John responded.

-"I hope that was a joke."

-"Not at all."

The secretary arrived :

-"Gentlemen, the Dean has recommended that you should search through..." she looked for one set in particular among the files, then two and finally five, "...these files. These are the students completing a two-year course in one year, which fits the description of your pilot friend. It also makes sense to look through the files of those who enrolled most recently but no earlier than two years ago," she said, still speaking in English.

John looked at the title of the file he held in his hands and then the others they had already looked at and laughed inside:

-"Mitchell, guess what."

-"What? I'm not in the mood for guessing games".

-"Look at your file".

Mitchell looked at his file and then at those he had already read:

-"Aww, shoot, we started in the wrong direction. We did all this for nothing. And it would've made sense anyway, since Angela only had that accident two years ago." Frustrated, Mitchell closed his file. He had just spent several hours reading useless information and all of it to no end. He stood up, "well ma'am, thanks for all your help. Any chance we can take some of these files with us, we're gonna have to go now."

-"I don't know if that is such a good idea. If you misplace even one of them, everything will kick off," the secretary said apologetically.

-"You're right. Do you have a file with just the photos of the students instead?" Mitchell asked.

-"I think we may have something like that, just a minute," she said, leaving the room once more.

-"I think she might have everything you want, if you ask me. If you'd used your charm, we could have made it out of here with those files, Mitchell."

The secretary came in a little while later with two large binders of one- and two-year students according to their enrolment dates:

-"Here, I think this should help speed up your work."

-"Thank you."

Mitchell and John took the binders and headed for the car to make their way for the rendez-vous back at the apartment.

Sam meanwhile was being welcomed by General Giles Prévost. After the introductions had been made, he showed them Angela's effects, which had been left when she resigned her commission. Sam asked if she could borrow them and asked the General some questions. Angela had spent six months at the base having completed three major assignments during that time following which she resigned her commission after discussion with the base physicians.

-"You know that after every assignment, she found it hard to regain her strength. Particularly her last mission, she was so exhausted she couldn't even stand. From that point on, she worsened every day and the pain was unbearable. We talked about it a long time before she made her decision. She was one of my best, and she was a great loss. If you want my opinion, she had a god reason to leave. She deserves a stable life. I know you want to bring her back into the fold, but for my part, I hope you don't find her, assuming she isn't dead."

-"Why do you think she might be dead?" Sam asked.

-"I don't know exactly. On the one hand, she's a fighter, but on the other, her last medical showed that she was in a bad state," the General answered her.

-"Do you have a copy of this medical report?" Sam asked.

-"No, everything was destroyed."

-"Destroyed?" exclaimed Teal'c.

-"Yes, everything pertaining to Angela was required to be destroyed," the General explained.

-"Why?"Teal'c questioned.

-"Standard procedure. All documents pertaining to a secret agent must either be burnt or returned to their rightful owner, in order to protect the agent in question," Jack responded.

-"You know, she was very popular here. I think she stayed in touch with one of my men. He may well have warned her that you are looking for her," Prévost advised them.

-"How?"Jack asked.

-"Your colleagues were here two weeks ago; the whole base knew about it."

-"So much for discretion. Can we see him?" Sam asked.

-"I'm sorry, he has been on assignment all week and won't be back for another fortnight, assuming all goes according to plan. However, he has already answered all your colleagues' questions."

-"Ok, well how would they communicate with one another?" Sam asked.

-"They were using some messaging service all the young people are using these day, it's like they're addicted. I believe they call it MSN. Do you have any other questions as I do have other things to be doing?" the General finished.

-"No, that should be everything. Oh, if we could see the doctor who examined her, unless he's on assignment as well?" Sam asked.

-"Of course, take the second corridor on your left and go straight on, ask for Mr and Mrs Carter. Good day to you."

The team went the way they had been instructed.

-"It's odd that this soldier just happens to be on assignment right when we need to speak to him," Jack remarked.

-"Yes, it is. Remind me to look into morgue and cemetary records. The French weren't willing to work with us on this from the start, so this shouldn't surprise us really," Sm thought.

They arrived at the office of the infirmary. There were two rooms facing each other where a plump older woman was typing energetically on a typewriter. On the other side and completely opposite in every way, a young man was hunched in front of a computer screen. He had a fatigued look, more so than his elder colleague. Sam knocked on the door to draw their attention, only the aged woman raised her head.

-"Hello, we're looking for the infirmary and were told to ask for Dr. Carter," Sam asked.

-"Well you're in the right place, which one do you want?" the older woman asked, "I'm Mrs Elisabeth Carter and this is Marc Carter. How can I be of service?"

The team looked her up and down more than a little bemused given the large age gap between the two doctors. The old woman seemed to understand their confusion:

-"Marc Carter is my son", Elisabeth went on, chuckling from where she sat.

-"We came to ask for information about Angela," Sam explained.

On hearing that name, Marc Carter's head went swiftly upwards. Straightening himself up, he stood up to offer his hand to the visitors:

-"Don't worry, you aren't the first people to be troubled by our age difference. Don't pay any attention to my mother; she loves to see people's reactions, "so, you came for information about...?" the doctor went back to his office, inviting the team to sit down in front of him. His mother went back to her work.

-"Angela. General Prévost told us that you gave her a medical to assess her fitness for duty before she resigned her commission," Sam began.

-"Yes, actually I did that at the end of every mission. Her last assignment didn't go well for her; she came back in a terrible condition, but not by her own cause."

-"Who was responsible?" Teal'c asked.

-"I don't know the details; the mission specifics were classified military secret so I dn't know how she received her injuries. She was always returning with injuries so I didn't question her as to how she came by them, but this time they were too severe to ignore. I wanted to know more, but the General refused to tell me anything else and the other soldiers followed suit. I don't like to speculate, but I believe she may have been tortured as she returned much later than scheduled and the General rganised a shock team, which are only mobilised in extreme cases. I would say she took too many risks. She respected no limits and she paid no attention to what her body was telling her. I have heard she jumped through a fifth-floor window to escape on one occasion. Who could walk out of that intact?" Carter mused.

-"That sounds like her and I take it she got up and carried on running like nothing had happened," Jack continued.

-"Exactly, but her body is taking so much strain that her organs and skeleton must be falling apart," the doctor explained.

-"Speaking of her condition, could you tell us more about er last medical exam and how advanced her illness had become?" Sam evinced.

-"Illness? What illness?" Jack asked, surprised.

-"Ah, you know about her illness," he said, paying no attention to Jack as he continued, "I believe that the physiological modifications she underwent should not be considered as an illness per se. The real problem was that she was weakening more and more by the day and she was finding it difficult to control herself. As well as that, her tumour had grown to a disturbing size and the anti-proliferators were no longer having any effect. Same thing for the painkillers. These crises grew closer and closer together. If things carried on at that rate, she will have lapsed into a coma. Unfortunately, these crises affect her heart as well as some of her vital organs. She has already suffered several cardiac arrests. We have already exhausted all existing treatments and techniques, even those still under development at the Pasteur Institute. None of them worked because her cells were in a state of electrical flux far above normal," Doctor Carter ended.

-"Yes, I know that, I'm aware of the anomalies. But from what I saw, her body had adapted to those changes. Have you tried gene therapy or modified and therapeutic DNA viruses?" Sam suggested.

-"No, we haven't, as her DNA has already been subjected to significant damage with serious and frequent replication errors in DNA polymerase III. We all agreed that it would be better not to attempt it," the doctor admitted

-"What about mutagenic agents or X-Rays."

-"The tumour was in a difficult place for techniques like that to be effective. There was the risk of damaging irreplaceable cells in her brain like neurons," the doctor explained, "but perhaps you Americans have other solutions. I have conducted extensive research and asked the advice of various specialists: oncologists, neurologists. No-one had the slightest idea and I have had no response from any American specialist. I don't think there is anything else to tell. Mom, did I forget anything there?" he asked his mother.

-"No, I don't think so, except that she's a real nuisance. I could never give her an injection without her trying to kill you over nothing. I remember the last time she had a huge mark on her skin after I took a blood sample. I took a photo of it, look," she took a photo from her drawer, which she handed to Sam.

Sam took it and grimaced. It was not at all a pretty sight to behold: the skin had gone black with scabs covering the wound. The blood looked as if it was crystallising around the wound. It looked almost as if she had been contaminated by the plague or some other illness.

-"But my son has told you all there is to know. Everything except this: before she left, she was doing a little better emotionally. She was even talking about taking up study and researching her illness. In my opinion, she wanted to fight this tumour, but as she said herself: _"it's hard to fight an enemy you can't see, don't know and don't have the weapons to defeat." _She is a fighter but I think it's a lost cause in her case," Elisabeth continued.

-"She might have decided to take specialised classes, oncology or others related to her illness," Jack wondered out loud.

-"Yes, maybe, I know of one university in Paris where a specialist in cancer research teaches. I don't remember where exactly, but his name is Pascal Martin. If you do manage to find her, perhaps you will be able to do something to help her," Elisabeth ended.

-"I hope so, we'll leave you now. Goodbye," Sam said in parting.

Sam and her team left the office, not talking until they reached the car:

-"I didn't know she was ill," Jack said, "that explains a lot like her death wish tendencies, like the time she jumped out of that window. What did he mean by physiological modifications?"

-"It's a long story, but to sum up, she was exposed to a strong electrical discharge which affected her cell equilibrium in relation to their electrical potential, meaning that the depolorisation and hyperpolorisation of the membranes and the electrostatic equilibrium are totally reversed..."

-"Colonel, I believe you are going into overly complex details," Teal'c interrupted.

-"I'm sorry. Thanks Teal'c. Well, in layman's terms, her body is constantly coursing with electric waves. She's able to control these waves," Sam simplified for their benefit.

-"Ok I understand,you mean she has some sort of powers?" Jack concluded.

"Yes, that's it exactly."

On that, they broke off the discussion. Jack for his part didn't bring it back up. _"How did I not guess about her illness? How could I not notice her condition, not to mention her powers? I should have noticed those special abilities, but I never saw anything. If I'd known then what I know now, I might have been better able to understand how she was so strong, so resistant, all those niggling questions I could never answer.": _

-"Was she, how do I say this..." he paused over the right word to use, "...? It's a rare condition, surely?"

-"Not as much as you might think; there are other people with this condition, everyone in fact. It's just to different degrees. Say for example when you get an electric shock. In her case, she's attained an extremely high level of energy. Scientists actually studied her against her will which was part of the reason she came back to France, I think. I don't know exactly what happened but I have my own theory. In any case, I studied the scans they took of her. At the time, she was putting out the same level of energy as a nuclear reactor, but by now it must be even greater

-"Wow," Jack whistled, "but how did that happen? She can't have been born that way. And to give off electric shocks, that must be painful for her. I can't stand them myself, so to have them constantly must be intolerable."

-"We don't know for certain, these are just theories I have," she did not elaborate.

-"General Prévost may not expect her to end up anywhere except for the morgue,"

Teal'c mused.

-"We'll see," Sam said.

They changed the subject and went over what they had learned that day as they headed back to their hideout.

* * *

**End of Chapter Six**


End file.
